A review by leighannsherwin
Bitter Almonds: The True Story of Mothers, Daughters, and the Seattle Cyanide Murders by Gregg Olsen

4.0

As someone who suffers from frequent headaches stories like this are alarming and probably why I buy tablets. I first heard this story on a TV show about forensic science in which the author was interviewed. Stella Nickell sounded fascinating to me. Boy did I get more than I bargained for with her. The story opens with Stella's husband Bruce suddenly collapsing under mysterious circumstances and being rushed to hospital where he later passes away. His death is ruled to be of natural causes. Meanwhile in another part of town Sue Snow is found collapsed in her bathroom displaying similar symptoms to those that Bruce Nickell had. Sue too dies shortly after arriving at the hospital. What follows is an at times long winded story outlining the backgrounds of each person involved. From the victim Sue Snow and her family to Stella herself. While overall the book moves along and is well written it often got bogged down with details, to the point where I was getting confused. I get that Stella was a party girl that she went from bar to bar but after a while it felt like it was getting repetitive. If nothing else I truly felt like I was in the head of Stella Nickell and I didn't like it. Given the childhood and family life she had it was no wonder she ended up doing all the wrong that she did. While not the best true crime I've read, it was still an fairly engaging book and I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another book by Gregg Olsen.